Bidrodeo.com is the same, horrible thing.  You go in and purchase “bids” and then use those bids to try and win incredibly cheap items.  One person can possibly win a great item, dozens of other people get screwed out of their money.  On the front page it showed a person had won a 16g iPad for only $22.97.  But he used 595 bids to win that item.  That means he actually spent AT LEAST $350 to win that item.  And that doesn’t include the other dozens of people who bid on this item USING BIDS THAT COST MONEY and didn’t win.  I also think it’s funny that they try to say that his 595 bids only cost him $169 when in reality if you buy the “deluxe” package it costs $340 for a package of 500 bids, $500 for 800 bids.  That doesn’t quite pan out to $169.  Such a rip-off.

I can’t believe that Beezid is still around and now this new company is coming in to do the same thing.  Who knows, maybe it’s the same company under a different name.  It wouldn’t surprise me.

Point is… BEWARE!

Eyes Set to Kill is a metalcore band that was formed by sisters Alexia and Anissa Rodriguez in 2004 in Tempe, Arizona.

The band was originally a three-piece band with Alexia and Anissa on guitars and Lindsey Vogt as the lead singer.  Lindsey later left due to personal reasons and Alexia became the lead singer.  They hunted around for more members of their band and performed with bands such as Chiodos, Blessthefall, and Greeley Estates – some signed and some unsigned – but weren’t able to find anyone to join them.  Finally, in 2006, Alex Torres, Brandon Anderson and Brett Litzler joined them to add some testosterone and to record their first record.

Since the original EP in 2006, they’ve released 3 records in 2008, 2009 and 2010.  Brandon Anderson had resigned from the band in 2010 because of multiple reasons including damaging his vocal chords so he was not able to scream.

Alexia released a solo album on October 12, 2010, titled “Underground Sounds” and has had some good reviews from it.  It is unknown currently if they are going to continue to try to keep ESTK going or if she is going solo for good.

This band isn’t extremely different from many of the other bands I like.  Melodic singing from one singer, screaming from another, and great guitars, drums and bass in the background.  But throwing in a female singer makes it a completely different genre almost.  She has a beautiful voice and it is almost surprising sometimes to hear the screaming come in over the top of her.

But who wouldn’t want to be on top of her?

Anyway, I did enjoy this band.  I’m not sure if they are someone I can listen to constantly like I could with A Day to Remember and some of the other bands, but I would definitely recommend them if you enjoy this type of music.  I am going to give them 3 peanuts out of 5.

Now, back to the picture…

A Day to Remember was formed in 2003.  They are a band that sandwiches metalcore and pop punk into their own style of music.  To date, they have released 3 studio albums beginning in 2005.  Their 2010 album is set to be released in November 2010.

The bands first album was released by a small company and only originally sold just under 9,000 units.  They felt that they could do better and continued to perform.  Bassist Joshua Woodard had a friend who said he had a AIM name of a guy at Victory Records.  After communicating for about six months, the guy from Victory Records informed him that he would be recording at a show they would be performing out near Chicago.  Apparently, he liked what he heard.

This is a band that quickly got me hooked.  It’s another mix of the melodic grunge that I enjoy where one singer sings like a normal human being while another screams and growls, perfection amongst the music gods in my opinion.

There are many songs I like from this band including “Another Song About the Weekend”, “Have Faith In Me”, “Here’s to the Past”, “Holdin’ it Down for the Underground”, “Homesick”, “I’m Made of Wax Larry, What Are You Made of”, and their awesome cover of a horrible song “Since U Been Gone”.  They are also up there with Underoath with some of the best titles.

The one issue I had with this band was that a good majority of the songs had “anthem-like” chanting in the background.  You know how it is, where it sounds like there are dozens or hundreds of people yelling the exact phrase at the exact time that you want them to.  There are times that this can be used, but ADtR seems to use it quite prolifically, even in their acoustic version of “Homesick” they had the chanting in the background which was really distracting.

Other than that, this band was a treat to listen to.  Melodic, scream-o, great guitars, great themes with their songs, and plenty of songs you could sing along with.  This is one band I would love to see live if they ever come to Utah.  This band was good enough that I went in and created a 4.5 peanut image… so obviously I am going to give them 4.5 out of 5 peanuts.

Now, if only I can remember to do the next band at the right time…

Rilo Kiley is an Indie Alternative band that was formed in 1998.  They have released 5 albums from 1999 to 2007.  This band isn’t your typical band consisting of either unknown musicians or musicians famous from other bands who decided to collaborate.  This band is fronted by two child actors.  One being Blake Sennett who is probably best known for playing Joey “The Rat” Epstein in Boy Meets World.  The other is Jenny Lewis who is best know (at least for me) as the hot red-head in the movie The Wizard starring Fred Savage.  Keep in mind, I was only 9 or 10 when I saw this, so it’s okay for me to say that.

The reason the band is named Rilo Kiley is unknown to us.  The reason being… Sennett has given multiple explanations about the name but none of them match.  One explanation is about a dream he had where he was chased by an almanac and when he was caught, he looked through it and saw the name.  Another is that he saw the name in an almanac when looking at Scottish athletes.  The most recent explanation, however, is that he had a dream where someone named Rilo Kiley predicted the date of Jenny Lewis’ death.

The band is involved in many charities including the Elliott Smith Memorial and UNICEF.  Currently, the band is on hiatus and has no plans in releasing an album in the near future according to band member Jason Boesel.

This music is not the typical music that I listen to.  I’ve never been heavy into the Indie Alternative music like this that reminds me of bubblegum pop.  However, I did listen to as many songs from them as I could find and had this strange, happy feeling while listening to them.  It doesn’t make any sense considering most songs are about breaking up, having friends who commit suicide and other depressing things.  But the very Motherbaughs-esque music in the background made me almost ignore the meaning of the songs.  Not sure if this is a good thing or not.

This is certainly not something I would choose to listen to on a normal basis.  It is far to bubblegum for me as I stated before.  And the happy-happy-joy-joy feeling I get when listening to the music in the background makes me feel dirty.  I did, however, like the song Love and War.  It almost sounded like a song No Doubt would do.  I will give this band 3 peanuts out of 5.  If you enjoy a completely different band that probably would have done better in the 70s then this is a great band for you to listen to.

Army of Anyone is a super-group consisting of Richard Patrick from Filter, Dean and Robert DeLeo from STP and Ray Luzier from The David Lee Roth Band.  To date they have released only one album in 2006.  They had also planned on releasing a DVD of the album in 2007 but failed to do so.  They did, however, tour to promote their album, hitting up everything from radio stations, Conan O’Brien and Carson Daly to headlining the SnoCore Tour.

Since the tour, the band appears to have broken up.  Patrick has put out two new albums with Filter while the DeLeo brothers reunited with Scott Weiland to pick up where they left off with Stone Temple Pilots by touring and releasing an album in 2010.  Luzier went on to become Korn’s drummer.

Patrick did say that after the touring of Korn, STP and Filter were over for 2010 he planned to get back together with the DeLeo brothers and Luzier to work on a second album.  But who knows if that will happen.

This is a band that is hard for me to place into a specific genre.  Gritty guitars combined with seductive-like lyrics from Patrick almost put it into a genre all it’s own.  I guess you could call it alternative rock.

I’ve listened to their album multiple times and really wish that they would get back together.  I was a big fan of STP and Filter back in my younger days and smashing them together made an even better band in my opinion.  The songs were all catchy and not too complicated, yet each song was unique in it’s own right.  They didn’t sound as repetitive as a lot of modern bands *cough Nickelback cough*

I would give this band 4 peanuts out of 5.  If I got out of my lazy mode and made some half peanut images, I would probably give them 4 1/2 out of 5… but for now we’ll go with what I have.  The music is great, Patrick’s voice is amazing and I think that you can listen to their songs no matter what mood you are in.

Knapsack was formed in 1993 after high school chums Blair Shehan and Colby Mancasola decided to start up a band while at the University of California, Davis.  The band released a total of 3 albums from 1995 – 1998 along with a couple of compilations and singles.  The band broke up in 2000 and lead singer and founding member Shehan went on to make The Jealous Sound.

The band reminds me a lot of a band that I listened to quite a bit in high school.  It’s a small band you may have heard of called the Goo Goo Dolls.  Shehan’s gravely voice, the simplistic and repetitive guitar riffs and the emo-pop style is quite similar to that of songs like “Iris” and “Long Way Down” which anyone who has a radio has heard.

I have to admit that I enjoyed these guys and have gone on to listen to The Jealous Sound to see if it is as good or better than Knapsack.  It may end up in the BotW lineup in the near future, who knows.

If you enjoy bands like the Goo Goo Dolls or Third Eye Blind you would probably enjoy listening to Knapsack.  Their music is quite simple yet easy to listen to and many people can probably relate to the meanings behind some of their songs.  I am going to give these guys 3 peanuts out of 5.  Worth listening to for sure, but sounds a lot like many bands popular in the 90s.

Mae is a band that was formed in 2001.  The name stands for “Multi-sensory Aesthetic Experience” which comes from a college course drummer Jacob Marshall was taking.  They have released 3 albums plus about 7 EPs and B-sides along with 3 DVD sets.  Apparently people have heard of them.

Mae is the kind of band that females ranging from 13-100 would like to listen to.  There is plenty of piano, plenty of higher pitched vocals, and plenty of mushy, lovey-dovey stuff to keep any girl steaming in her seat.  For the guys, however… it’s a bit lacking (unless you like pianos, high pitched vocals and mushy, lovey-dovey stuff).

The first song I heard from Mae was “A Day in the Life” which started off making me think of the Beatles and possibly Oasis.  I enjoy both of those bands so I thought maybe I had found a new band to listen to when I wanted some mellow music.  I was duped, folks.

Attempting to pull it in lines with something popular, this band sounds a lot like Owl City.  Anyone who listens to alternative/rock radio has heard the “Fireflies” song that makes me gag every single time I hear it.  Well, if you like that song, you will probably get along well with most of Mae’s stuff.

Now don’t get me wrong, I try to pride myself in being eclectic when it comes to music.  I can listen to a whole range of things.  But when every song does nothing but want to hold my hand and take me away to Candyland, I have some issues.  There needs to be more than love and heartache to a band.  There’s no anger, there’s no passion… it’s just “you love me” or “boo hoo, you don’t love me.”  Nothing in between.

I am going to give these guys 2 out of 5 peanuts.  One song I actually kind of enjoyed was “Waiting,” but everything else just left me feeling like I needed to pull out my tuxedo, slick my hair back and go to prom.

And I could get in trouble there…

Underoath is a Christian metalcore band that was formed in 1997 and has released a total of 6 studio albums as well as a live CD/DVD box set.  Underoath considers themselves a Christian band but you can probably say that they only thing Christian about their music is that sometimes they talk about God and they don’t seem to swear… as far as I can tell.  These guys aren’t those typical late-night commercial “lift me up” sort of bands.  They are hard, heavy and full of screamin’!

I have to say that these guys aren’t amongst my favorite.  While I do enjoy a good scream-o every now and then, the singer in this band seems to be almost whine-y.  His screams sound like he has bronchitis or pneumonia or something and is having a hard time keeping his screaming going.  That is one of the only things that turned me off bout this band.

The other thing I don’t like about the band is that they are almost a complete scream-o band.  As I said in my previous post I enjoy the melodic metalcore kind of bands.  I like some nice singing along with the screaming.  There were a few songs that fell into this category, but the majority of their songs were nothing but the whining.

Some of the songs I really enjoyed were “Down, Set, Go”, “Young and Aspiring”, “Reinventing Your Exit”, “You’re Ever So Inviting”, “Changing of Times”, “The Impact of Reason”, “To Whom It May Concern” and “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door” (gotta give ‘em props for some of their titles).  These almost fell in line with what I enjoy listening to, but it’s not enough to really fill up an entire album so it just didn’t work for me.

Underoath is very popular and up to the typing of this post has received two Grammy nominations for their efforts.  I’m not saying that this band is not good, I am saying that this band does not quite fit TheBigNut standard of something I would really enjoy.  I don’t mind throwing on a few songs, but it was tough for me to listen to all of their songs.  I am going to give these guys a 3 out of 5 score.  If you enjoy a higher-pitched screaming, almost nothing but screaming, and some great music (I’ll give ‘em that), then this would be a great band for you.

He’s in a band (or was?) and you can see all of his videos here… but this one is one of my favorite.

And FYI, he is using an electric system for those that want to say he’s not drumming because the cymbals and toms are the same size.